Trott’s case highlights link to depression

A decision by England batsman Jonathan Trott to withdraw from the remainder of the Ashes series due to a stress-related illness brought predictably insensitive reactions from some sections of the Australian media. One depression expert, however, hopes Trott’s high-profile case might help other athletes come forward without fear of ridicule. And a sports psychologist suggested why verbal taunts, which often lead to anxiety and possibly suicide, seem to be so pronounced in cricket. Brisbane-based sports psychologist Dr. Phil Jauncey, who has worked with many cricketers, pointed to the slow-paced nature of the sport that enables players to get up close and personal with their opponents, allowing taunting - known as “sledging” - to have more effect. “In many other sports, you are too busy, maybe one-on-one in tennis, or in rugby, the game is just moving too fast,” Jauncey said in an interview with The Associated Press yesterday. “In cricket, you are standing around this guy, you can keep talking at the batsman, you have your mates around. In a sense it’s bullying. And if you’ve got some issues, it could get to you.” Jeff Kennett, a former premier of Victoria state and now chairman of the Beyondblue group that promotes awareness of depression and anxiety, says the clichéd old ‘If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen’ mentality only makes it worse for athletes. “For every Jonathan Trott, there are hundreds of sportsmen and women in the same position, with the same condition, who now may feel if they seek help they’re going to be ridiculed,” Kennett said in a reproachful statement after the initial local reporting of Trott’s departure. “If Jonathan Trott had returned to the U.K. for a physical injury you would not have got these headlines. Because it’s a mental health illness or a stress-related illness, some in the media have seen fit to actually mock him.” Boiling tension Australia and England have been contesting the Ashes since the 1880s, and tension sometimes boils over. England has won the last three series, increasing the angst among players and fans in Australia. Fairfax Media sports columnist Greg Baum wrote yesterday that Jonny Bairstow, who could replace Trott in England’s top six, experienced depression and anxiety in his family. Baum wrote that in the 10 years between cricket historian David Frith published “By His Own Hand,” a book examining the incidence of suicide among cricketers, in 1991 and a follow-up a decade later, the number of reported cases had increased from 85 to more than 150. The reason Frith gave was that cricket was often a one-chance sport, where if a batsman is out early in his innings -as Trott was twice in Brisbane- the fans, opposing players and media can be brutal.